Triboelectric nanogenerator integrated with a simple controlled switch for regularized water wave energy harvesting

Ocean is full of low-frequency,irregular,and widely distributed wave energy,which is suitable as the energy source for maritime Internet of Things(IoTs).Utilizing triboelectric nanogenerators(TENGs)to harvest ocean wave energy and power sensors is proven to be an effective scheme.However,in random ocean waves,the irregular electrical energy output by general TENGs restricts the applications.At present,achieving regularized water wave energy harvesting relies on rather complex mechanical structure designs,which is not conducive to industrialization.In this work,we proposed a novel mechanical controlled TENG(MCTENG)with a simple controlled switch to realize the regularization function.The structural parameters of the MC-TENG are optimized,and the optimal output voltage,output current,and transferred charge respectively reach 1684.2 V,85.4μA,and 389.9 nC,generating a peak power density of 38.46 W·m^(−3)·Hz^(−1).Under real water wave environment,the output of the MC-TENG is regularized and keeps stable regardless of any wave conditions.Moreover,the potential applications of the MC-TENG are demonstrated in powering environmental temperature,humidity,and wind speed sensors.This work renders a simple approach to achieve effective regularized ocean wave energy harvesting,promoting the TENG industrialization toward practical application of maritime IoTs.

Bifunctional polyaniline electrode tailored hybridized solar cells for energy harvesting from sun and rain

Pursuit of energy-harvesting or-storage materials to realize outstanding electricity output from nature has been regarded as a promising strategy to resolve the energy-lack issue in the future. Among them,the solar cell as a solar-to-electrical conversion device has been attracted enormous interest to improve the efficiency. However, the ability to generate electricity is highly dependent on the weather conditions,in other words, there is nearly zero power output in dark-light conditions, such as rainy, cloudy, and night, lowering the monolithic power generation capacity. Here, we present a bifunctional polyaniline film via chemical bath deposition, which can harvest energy from the rain, yielding an induced current of 2.57 μA and voltage of 65.5 μV under the stimulus of real raindrop. When incorporating the functional PANi film into the traditional dye sensitized solar cell as a counter electrode, the hybridized photovoltaic can experimentally realize the enhanced output power via harvesting energy from rainy and sunny days. The current work may show a new path for development of advanced solar cells in the future.

Scalable rolling-structured triboelectric nanogenerator with high power density for water wave energy harvesting toward marine environmental monitoring

In the context of advocating a green and low-carbon era,ocean energy,as a renewable strategic resource,is an important part of planning and building a new energy system.Triboelectric nanogenerator(TENG)arrays provide feasible and efficient routes for large-scale harvesting of ocean energy.In previous work,a spherical rolling-structured TENG with three-dimensional(3D)electrodes based on rolling motion of dielectric pellets was designed and fabricated for effectively harvesting low-frequency water wave energy.In this work,the external shape of the scalable rolling-structured TENG(SR-TENG)and internal filling amount of pellets were mainly optimized,achieving an average power density of 10.08 W∙m^(−3)under regular triggering.In actual water waves,the SR-TENG can deliver a maximum peak power density of 80.29 W∙m^(−3)and an average power density of 6.02 W∙m^(−3),which are much greater than those of most water wave-driven TENGs.Finally,through a power management,an SR-TENG array with eight units was demonstrated to successfully power portable electronic devices for monitoring the marine environment.The SR-TENGs could promote the development and utilization of ocean blue energy,providing a new paradigm for realizing the carbon neutrality goal.